Chicago archdiocese to pay $1.2M in sex case

A teenage boy and his mother will receive $1.2 million from the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago for sexual abuse the boy suffered at the hands of Daniel McCormack, a lawyer for the victims said today.

The agreement is the most recent settlement reached between the archdiocese and a victim of McCormack, the former pastor of St. Agatha Catholic Church, who pleaded guilty last year to fondling five boys ages 8 to 12 at St. Agatha. The victim in this settlement, however, was not part of the criminal case, lawyer Kenneth Cunniff said.

According to the complaint, McCormack made advances toward the boy, then 14, once in August 2005 in public during a White Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field. He also made advances in the church rectory and at the Our Lady of the West Side School, Presentation campus, where McCormack coached him in basketball.

The boy and his younger brother, who was repeatedly abused by McCormack, told their mother about the misconduct when the priest was arrested and removed from the parish in January 2006.

In May, Cardinal Francis George released a legal deposition that disclosed the steps and missteps that led to McCormack's tenure at St. Agatha years after initial allegations of misconduct surfaced during his seminary days in 1988. According to the document, as many as 23 people have alleged abuse by McCormack, who is serving a 5-year prison sentence for five felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.